Hello and welcome to the diary for our ranch, nestled in a valley near the headwaters of the Winooski River in Central Vermont. Here we will share some of what life is all about in this beautiful section of the country.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Head, heart, hands, and health; the four "H's" of 4H. For many years our youngest daughter was a member of 4H. From this she learned so much that will go on to enhance her life. Because of her involvement, we are a great supporter of 4H and thus were glad to welcome the Blazing Saddles to our farm on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 for a visit to learn about North American Curly Horses.

The visit began with a brief history about Curlies and from there we branched into: Physical Characteristics; Types of curly hair; Smooth-coated Curlies; and Emotional Characteristics. Along the way I was able to spin stories about the Curlies with whom I've been blessed to share life. While I was talking, *GMC Yukon Jack, our long yearling, grazed quietly behind me.

As I lifted his lead to bring him in and invited those around me to feel his curls, he looked up and gazed at the 30-odd members of the 4H group. He sighed and promptly went back to grazing the grass at my feet. He was an oh-so-worried little guy, as you can see!!

Once I returned Jack to his paddock, I took the group around to meet the other horses. *Red Running Star, our 8 year old extreme gelding, garnered allot of questions from the group. "Where is his tail hair? Why does he lose his hair? Is he bothered by it?" I explained that it is just normal for him and that he doesn't seem to know he is the "Patrick Stewart" of the horse world; Red is just who he is. Characteristically, he had his head over the fence and visited the whole time we chatted about him. He is one friendly fellow.

But the hit of the whole day was our 4 month old colt, *GMC Coyote Bill. Bill had never seen so many "little humans" before; only one or two at a time had been to visit previously. He was fascinated and came right up to the fence to visit with everyone. His dam, *Glory of Philea West, paid a short visit, but as she is a very calm and easy-going mare, shortly returned to her hay and let Bill stay at the fence. All were amazed not only at his beautiful curls, but at how friendly and curious he was. Repeatedly I was asked, "And how old is he?" as if they could not believe that such a young horse would be so outgoing. Just a typical Curly, I told them.

All in all, the Blazing Saddles spent about an hour and a half learning about North American Curly Horses, and I'm proud to say that they went away know a lot more, and being impressed by, the breed we are proud to love.